Police enter booby-trapped home of Aurora shootings suspect

Police have disarmed a tripwire and incendiary device at the booby-trapped apartment of the man suspected of killing 12 people at a cinema in Denver, Colorado, during a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises.

Police brief reporters close to the apartment complex where James Holmes lives (Picture: Reuters)

Local police supported by FBI bomb disposal experts defused the explosive device in the first stage of their second attempt to gain entry to the Aurora apartment of James Holmes, five miles from the cinema complex in the Denver suburb where he is suspected of carrying out the mass shooting.

They have since managed to enter the property but more investigation will be needed to completely disarm the property, including the potential for a controlled explosion.

Investigators discovered the flat was booby-trapped, including a tripwire and around 30 of what resemble mortar shells, after the 24-year-old told police following his arrest outside the cinema in the early hours of Friday morning that he had rigged his home to explode.

Helicopters fly over the Century Theatre where 12 people were killed (Picture: AP)

‘First and foremost, we need to render the area safe,’ Sergeant Cassidee Carlson told reporters.

‘Once that situation is mitigated, that may also include a controlled detonation that may cause a loud boom.

‘There may also be a fire that erupts at this point.’

A gunman wearing a gas mark, body armour and a riot helmet, armed with an assault rifle, a shotgun and two pistols, opened fire on cinemagoers around half an hour into the Batman movie, killing 12 people and wounding 58.

Firefighters remove a propane tank from outside the apartment complex of James Holmes (Picture: Reuters)

Police arrested Holmes outside the cinema shortly after the spree and say they are not looking for anyone else in connection with the shootings.

The neuroscience graduate student grew up in San Diego, California, and has no previous criminal record.

A woman lights candles at a makeshift memorial for the victims of Friday morning’s attack (Picture: Getty)

It is thought he purchased 6,000 rounds of ammunition over the internet in the past few weeks, with all weapons and ammunition purchased legally. He is due to appear in court over the shootings on Monday.

Last night a candlelit vigil was held for the victims of the shootings, as survivors began to detail their experiences.

President Barack Obama has ordered flags in the US to be flown at half-mast out of respect for the victims.